The NYPD may have the name of Brian Thompson’s killer, but New York Mayor Eric Adams said it is better if the name is not released now because it will help hide the person. “We don’t want to release him now,” the mayor said when asked if police had a name. “If you do, you’re basically tipping off the person we’re looking for and we don’t want to hand him over at all. Let him believe he can hide behind a mask. We reveal his face. We We will reveal who he is and we will bring him to justice.”
“And the way they were able to follow his steps to recover evidence — some of it known, some of it unknown — but the net is getting tighter and we’re going to bring this guy to justice,” Adams said. The manhunt entered its fourth day Saturday and the NYPD has not released a name for the killer.
The killing drew outrage from a section of the general public who praised the killer and celebrated the assassination of an insurance company CEO who recounted his harrowing experience dealing with his insurance payments from UnitedHealthcare.
Although the killer was able to elude police for three days and counting, investigators believe he was a lone-wolf killer and did not act out of a momentary rage. It was a premeditated killing and experts believe the killer could have been a disgruntled staff or customer.
Investigation so far
Investigators found a mobile phone, his backpack and traced his journey back from the hostel where he was staying before the murder. Photos of the killer from surveillance footage have been circulated with many tip-offs from the public; The details of his backpack are coming out. Investigators said he fled the scene of the killing on a bike and then possibly left NYC on a bus.